Navigating climate change: Impacts on indigenous practices concerning agrifood systems in Nepal's socio-ecological landscape

Abstract

Climate change, its consequences, and related adaptation and mitigation strategies have been widely discussed in recent decades. However, the impacts of climate change on indigenous and local communities, their cultural adaptation practices, and the integrity of agrifood production systems have received limited attention. This study addresses this gap by examining the perspectives of forest-dependent local stakeholders (FDLS) in Nepal's lowland landscape. Using a participatory research approach, we analyzed empirical climatic data to assess the threats climate change poses to the cultural practices of indigenous and local peoples. We explored the adaptation strategies employed by these communities within the socio-ecological systems (SES) framework. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews (n = 136), focus group discussions (n = 9), and expert interviews (n = 27) across selected districts, complemented by secondary sources such as policy documents, district profiles, and climate reports. Our findings reveal significant climatic changes, including rising temperatures, earlier summers, shorter winters, unpredictable monsoons, increased droughts and wildfires, and water shortages. These changes have forced FDLS to adopt less water-intensive, drought-tolerant, insect-resistant, and hybrid crop varieties. However, these adaptation strategies often come with additional costs, labor, time, and technological demands, impacting livelihoods and contributing to cultural disintegration. Moreover, these changes have jeopardized food systems and eroded long-standing local traditions tied to sustainable livelihoods. This underscores the urgent need to strengthen ecosystem and community resilience to safeguard food security and the environment in the face of climate change. Our findings highlight site-specific impacts and adaptation strategies, the challenges to indigenous practices and cultural preservation, and policy pathways to address these issues.